New passport puts Corby one step closer to release

Schapelle Corby has been issued a new passport by the Australian Government as she edges one step closer to being released from Kerobokan prison.

The convicted drug smuggler has cleared two of the bureaucratic hurdles she needs for parole and has only two more to go, Fairfax Media reports.

A spokesman for the Indonesian Corrections department said she had been issued a new passport and the department has confirmed she is legally allowed to stay in Indonesia to serve out her sentence.

The passport means Corby, who was jailed in 2004 after being caught smuggling 4.2kg of marijuana into Bali, has fulfilled all the immigration requirements of a foreign prisoner serving parole.

The remaining hurdles are a sign-off from corrections staff confirming her paperwork is in order, and the political approval from Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin, who told Fairfax Media Corby's record "is good, and if a good person serves her sentence well, we automatically have to give her rights".

The meeting to confirm her paperwork is in order is expected to happen soon and, following that, her file should be sent to Mr Syamsuddin within a day.

Once out of jail, Corby will complete her sentence while living with her sister, Mercedes, and her family in Kuta before being eligible to return to Australia on July 25, 2017.